My Own Portfolio

a picture tells a thousand words

It's me Bill, the site author and sponsor, on the right is a work I painted while talking on the meaning of the advent and the phrase “I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16).

This is painted on a partial sheet of drywall (approx. 48"x60") so it is large. The cost is minimal, drywall is inexpensive, and I use half a dozen bottles of artist acrylic. Cheap home depot brushes, bowls from tv dinners, big bucket of water, lots of rags and a drop cloth, what else do I need?

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama. I spent two decades designing and building scenery for the theater. I have worked off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway, including a time as a carpenter and electrician with The New York Shakespeare Festival. I taught for a short time.

In the Houston area, I worked for Stages Reperatory Theater, the Alley Theater and Houston Grand Opera. I also worked for Show Fountains and Dancing Waters to create theatrical water shows.

You could say that art is in my blood. My maternal grandfather John Austin Taylor was an artist and illustrator. I still have several of his paintings as well as a young adult novel he illustrated.

In the Garden

This work is a large piece (42"x60") which I painted to enter into a local showing for lent. It is acrylic on muslin.

Sometimes we don't always get it right, when Jesus asks us to do something. But in the end, all three disciples had the humility to tell us the story. Even better, we know that they went on to serve Jesus well and faithfully. James and Peter gave their lives as martyrs for Christ. John suffered in exile for years, but continued to write and to preach into his nineties.

Leviathan I

This is my first attempt at painting a vision I had while working on my Commentary on the Book of Job , which can be found on my other website BurningCoal.com. (8"x10" on canvas board).

The Far Side of Jordan

I was asked to paint a lighthouse by someone who donated all of her late husband's art supplies to me. Her generosity was overwhelming. I in turn donated supplies to another artist and art teacher because there was so much. The Johnny Cash and June Carter song “Far Side of Jordan” has the line “I'll be waiting there, drawing pictures in the sand” which seemed to fit the subject perfectly. (8"x10" on a donated canvas board).

Revival is Messy

This is another large painting (60"x36"). It was painted during a “Harps and Bowls” worship, so it was painted rapidly. For a fuller discussion of the painting see the write-up on my other website: BurningCoal.com included both a description of the painting process and the theological explanation.

This was painted in the Spirit, so the explanation linked above is after the fact; i.e. the theology comes out of the painting and not the other way around. I must admit there is always a lively interplay with what I am thinking and writing and what comes out when I paint, especially in an off-the-cuff, in-the-Spirit, moment.